William—same experience exactly. I resisted the urge, opting to keep my Virgin Mobile and "toping up" every 15 minutes when running out of minutes. My oldest granddaughter made me a believer when she purchased an i-Phone. I was absolutely amazed with the capability and overall design. I did decide to buy a Motorola Android after weighing all options and have truly enjoyed using it. Still learning but getting to the point where I'm dangerous when texting. One thing I find difficult is the speaker option. Seems very unnatural to me but at any rate I use if frequently. I would definitely recommend you make the switch—come over to the dark side.

Allan, you are right. 03 years back Samsung in nowhere in Smartphone market and they had diversified their resources in to Smartphone R&D and production. As a result now they are holding more than half of the market shares for both tablet and Smartphones. Once in a quarter they are announcing a couple of new models in to market and the latest is Galaxy S3 with 4.7' screen, which places between the 7" tablet and Smartphone. Now Galaxy is one of their Flag ship models

The term 'resolutely broken' was not used here, unlike the Apple iPhone teardowns. In fact, it look's like there is some potential on this unit to make some actual repairs through the back, or at least replace the battery.

That said, the battery doesn't appear as large as the Apple's, so I'd expect heavy users to be looking at daily recharges, unless the chipsets are fabulously efficient.

Blaze is slightly smaller, with more internal memory, but other than that, same thing. Nice to be able to access the internet, but really, the new smart phones are a no where near as user friendly as some of the older phones. This is our 1st adventure into smartphones and Androids.

I came from using an LG Touch. (I just did not activate the data plan.) You knew exactly when you received messages. Battery life was in days not hours. Keypad was very nice. The Samsung Virtual keyboard leaves a lot to be desired when holding the phone in normal position. Turn it horizontally, and much easier to use.

These have a tendency to do "weird" stuff, (how do you like that technical term?) like closing out a webpage when you are reading it, for some unknow reason. Trying to save pictures into a specific folder, I have yet to figure out. The Manual is just about non-existant. What few pages you receive with the phone, basically tells you how to turn it on, install the charger, and that is all. There are no extensive manuals online. So if you are not into being frustrated with the learning curve, of playing with this and hoping to trip across features and how to use, you might wish to go with a phone and mfg. that actually offers at least a semi-decent user manual. We are extremely disappointed with the lack of user info for this phone. Also, if you are not familiar with web searching on a mobile phone, the web pages and most sites are not displayed the same as they are viewed on a computer. This is done to minimize the amount of data that needs to be displayed. But it can leave you hanging, when you are looking to use the full function of the websites. Try using Ebay or Scottrade for example. Many features of the sites are just not available from the smart phone.

Camera is nice as is ability to expand the screen in many searches on the internet. The Blaze is smaller than the S3, but you can fit this easily into your pocket, and also easier to hold in the palm of your hand. The S3 is huge, which makes keyboard easier to use, but also harder to carry and use with one hand.

I currently have a Samsung Feature Phone and [gasp] have not yet taken the plunge into the smartphone market. The more I read about the Galaxy S3, it is becoming more and more difficult to stay on the sidelines...

Completely agree with your statement on Korea. They clearly grew to become a very easy to work manufacturing partner. their work ethycs is great also. I actually see less recalls on vehicles that are made in Korea then other world producers. Something to say about their quality.

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